Making Supper Every Tuesday Night

Every Tuesday night for the past month I have been making supper! Emily makes supper on Monday nights and Dad on Friday so mom doesn't have to cook on the nights she gets home late. So I usually wait until Tuesday afternoon to decide what to make so it is something quick. I have made Broccoli Cheese Soup, Enchiladas and some other stuff. So last night I kept putting off looking through the cookbook, but finally at lunch time I gave in and looked through one of mom's cookbooks. I thought about doing Haystacks and Lasagna but I decided not to make(there were other factors hint hint sisters opinion) them, instead I made a Pizza Casserole. All we needed from the store was Pepperonis, and mom was going to the store so she could pick them up, so at 4:30 I went to work. I browned the meat and cooked the noodles. Then I added mushrooms and some other things that go with pizza and garlic salt and oregano. I have to give some credit to my mom she added some spices to make it take a little better! We had applesauce and green beans for sides. For dessert we had snow ice cream ( since we have a lot to use) and fudge sauce that Mom made at the last second! I guess it was really good or wasn't as filling because my mom had second helpings (of the pizza casserole) along with everybody else and that almost never happens.

Everything is Turning into SNOW!!!!

This is just outside our back porch!

We have got a ton of snow! I went out this morning and it was up past my knees! We had to make a path for Jessie to get from one porch to another because it is up to her head almost. I was IMing my friend and she said at there place it was up to their thighs and still snowing. We got to let Jessie in the house cause of the snow! Mom and Dad are walking over to Chad and Carmen's house (our neighbors) to get Anya who spent the night there after sledding! Here is just a few more pictures of the snow storm that is shattering records of snowfall.

These is our cars covered in snow!!

This is looking out right beside our barn.

This is the tree right by our front porch.

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

In December it snowed about a foot and a half, and for Virginia we thought that was a lot! I love the snow, but some people in Virginia aren't quite as crazy about all of it, and now this weekend we are supposed to get 20-28 inches of snow! Everything here is closed! i dont think any schools are still open even colleges are getting closed! This weekend we were supposed to go to my aunt's house and spend the weekend there so at the last minute the trip was canceled. One of Emily's friend said that on/by Febuary 28th we will get 5 ft. of snow! I'm not sure if that is the total amout of snow we have had or five feet actually on the ground. I guess I'd be happy with either. We have about 5 inches on the ground right now so the passed 2 days we went sledding on the big hill beside our neighbor Leo's house ( it is a field that the old order farmer owns.) It is the best! I can't wait to go again! Here is a picture of the weather right now!

The Visit to David Kline

I know, I know this is a long overdue post. David Kline is an Amish man who is the author of two books, Scratching the Woodchuck and Great Possessions. The visit to David's place was amazing! I learned a lot and enjoyed the time being with him at his house. It was just cool to listen to him talk with his German accent. He talked about nature and Anabaptist history with my dad. We mostly listened, but Emily brought up her favorite quote of his "a faint tinge of skunk," and he knew exactly what she was talking about. He even went on to tell us that it sometimes is fox when it is just a faint tinge. He had his wood stove going and his wife came in and had a rack for clothes close by and hung up the wash and turned a heat powered fan toward them! He has a chest full of books and a closet filled with books and two whole bookshelves full of books! I like to read, but that is a lot of books. Reading his book and then seeing him in person was cool. Plus, I think reading the book made me enjoy the visit a lot more. It was funny, because our Sunday School teacher said you have to remember to tell your dad that field trips are for you and Emily too not just him, but I think I liked it almost as much as he did (actually liking it as much as him is pretty hard to match.) David was a very kind and easy to talk to person (although I didn't talk to him as much.)

Christmas Break

For Christmas this year we stayed home for Christmas Day. Then we went to Ohio (my mom's side) on the 26th and stayed there for about 3 days. We got to go snowmobiling in the field! I love to go by myself and fast. When your the driver the wind is blocked by the wind shield, but when you are the passenger you get all the wind in your face! Emily rode with me and she likes to be in control so she wanted me to go really slow.... Boring! We also got to go to a pool with a game room! I beat my mom in Air Hockey (7 to 6) and if you know my mom and me (we are both very competitive) that was huge accomplishment for me... she will never hear the end of that. We left for Indiana (Dad's side) in Grandpa and Grandma Helmuth's van, because we wanted some space and our Honda does not give that to us. We had the best meals....... Michigan Meatballs, Pork Loin, Pancakes, etc. We had Christmas the day we got there. We all had Barnes 'n Noble gift cards so we went to Barnes 'n Noble and got books then we got some Annie Anne's pretzels! Our cousins have a video camera so we did a talk show ( I wasn't in it much because I'm not a good actress!) The four oldest slept down in the basement which was awesome because we can pretty much stay up as long as we want to. We went to Ohio for the night so we wouldn't have to travel the whole way in one day. We got home yesterday at 4:00. Now we settle in for 4 days then Emily, Anya, Dad and I are going to Ohio for a week, while my G-ma and G-pa H. are going on Mennonite Disaster Service Project.

Port Isobel

Oh, what can I say it was so much fun! Well Dad drove the bus that we were going in with a bunch of AP Biology students to a town called Chrisfield. Then we got on a boat called the Loni Carol 2 (we don't know what happened to Loni Carol 1)the captain's name was Captain Charles. We went on a 45 min. ride over to Port Isobel a neighboring island to Tangier Island. We stayed in a building called the Snow Goose. There was also a building called the Bakery which we hung out in and ate in. Then we had an introduction meeting to learn names and introduce rules. The first thing we did was set the crab pots out(well it was unpack.) Then we went back to land and we ate Lunch and Supper. The students made our food, it was good. The students went on a night hike, but we were too tired. The next day we started off the day with a hot breakfast. Then we went Marsh Mucking! Most of the people were covered in marsh muck from head to toe. I got covered from toe to knee. Then we came back and had some free time and snacks. Then we headed out to Tangier Island. The little island has a big heart! Everybody was so friendly there wasn't a person that went by that didn't wave. I got to experience my first crab cake, YUM! They had a history museum that we went to with lots of cool facts. Then we got back to Port Isobel. Next we got our crab pots. We got a total of 28 good crabs. One of our leaders and Captain Charles caught some striped bass for supper! We had bass and a little bit of crab for supper. Then we went on a short night hike into a forest of bamboo. The next morning we had a closing meeting and had to clean up the Bakery and the Snow Goose. Then it was back to the bus for a long ride home! It was a great experience, Thanks CBF.

Hatching Chicks

On Monday the 16th we got a call from our neighbor (Carmen) that one of their eggs had a little hole in it and that we could come over anytime to see it. Anya didn't have to be at school for about a half hour. So,when she was ready we went over and watched. The hole didn't get bigger, we waited and we heard some chirps and and the egg shake. Other than that nothing happened for a long time. So time passed and Anya had to go to school so Dad took her to school and we stayed and we were going to walk back as soon as it hatched. Well we waited and it didn't much of anything, so Dad got back and it still hadn't hatched! We were getting impatient so we got some paper and pencil. Clint made the stages of the egg hatching even though he had only seen one. Ginny did an ocean and Emily and I just kinda doodled. So we ended up staying there the whole day! When we left it still hadn't hatched. Later that night at 11:30pm it hatched! That chick wasn't very healthy but they now have 2 other that hatched later.